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Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 26, 6 January 1864, Page 2

A melancholy caso of drowning took place yesterday morning, or the previous night. About three o'clock yesterday afternoon a man went to that portion of the Puni Creek which runs below the Police Tourt-House, for the purpose of drawiug some water, when he was horrified by seeing the body of a man lying partly in the Creek and partly on the land, the body being evidently left partially dry by the receding tide. He gave information to some other persons, who discovered the body to be. that of a man name i John M'Kay, a blacksmith, who had been employed in that capacity in a smithy behind Carey and Gilles' saleyards in Da* street. It appears that the deceased, who has latterly been of very intemperate habits, had been drinking very heayily for some; .days back, and that on Monday he was going about from place to place drinking. . In some houses he was refused drink, as he was evidently suffering slightly from delirium tnemens, and it is supposed that. in that state he had thrown himself into the Creek, as from' the place where he was found not being in the lsee of-,any road or footpath, there could be little fear of any one having wandered, even in an intoxicated state, to it. The body waa removed to the Police Camp, where an inquest will be held on it to-day at three o'clock. The weather, which for the last day or two had been of the most boisterous and disagreeable kind culminated yesterday; in a perfect gale, which, from the south, blew with great, force the. whole day, sending clouds nf dust through the streets, and rendering pedeatranism a work of great difficulty. Towards night tho wind moderated.

• A deputation, consisting of Captain Miicfarlnne, Lieutenant Kingsland, and 'the Secretary," (MrHatch;, of the Volunteer Fife Brigade, waited upon Mr' Commissioner Woldoh yesterday morning, at half-past ten* o'clock. Their chief objec£wai to "eficure.the^cp-operation of Mr Weliion in carrying p\A pneOrJ; wo important improvements in connection with thewell working of4he Brigade', ai also' to abtain shelter for the Hook and Ladder Carriage expected to arrive daily.. TV ;Jfc.JVeldpn^,pK)-j mised to tlo all that lay in his power, and also to arrange that the police should gife an alarm of fire by* ringing th«- bell, ttrnporary obtained by .tbe^%iga^e:fcbm~the;;Preßb^erian'oh'ur^rJWMr'.' Weldon spoke highly of the manner in which the member's seemed to be progressing, and expressed himself .somewhat- surprised that: they were even so far advanced in their organisation. J'_ I Mr Warden Hardcastle, in his report dated .Mount Ida, I9th December, says :— V A> rush has ! taken place on Captain Hamilton's run (outside the boundary;of- this district), which has attracted a population of about six hundred from the Mount Ida. gold-field. A small 1 exodus has also taken place to some made hills in the vicinity of Blackstone Hill, where a population of about a hundred appear to be steadily at work. This is also outside the district. More activity ha 3 been displayed in mining matters during the week than for some. I time back. On the older workings considerable ' activity hnsbeen shown in npplying for extended i claims to be sluiced with water from the Eweburn Creek ; and even the reputed richness of the discovery at Saxtpn's, which no ]»recaut.ions,of mine could prevent tie more migratory miherß,. from greatly overrating, left a large population behind ■ quietly at work. The Mount Ida Water Race I Company daily expect the completion of the i enterprise. Kegistration has been granted for water riglits to supply Clark's and this gully, which are now found U9eful. Tue weather has ! been fine, with occasional heavy showers." Amongst the passengers to Dunedin by the Hero on her last trip, was Mr Jefferson, the great American comedian. It is to be hoped that the new Theatre Uoyal will have the hon.«r of Mr Jefferson appearing on its strtge before loa;j. ; ( The Duue'lin Telegraph says — " Tue hi^h rates ruling tor rents of small cottages, have compelled j numbers of our laboring men, with their families, to content themselves with calico or canvas dwellings ; but it bas now been discovered that a room cleverly and comfortably built with sods, is not only warmer and better able to resist the assaults of wind, rain and cold, but is considerably cheaper and of course more durable. We find the plan of turf dwellings is now Irequemly adopted, the owners generally finding it within the reach of their tneuns to roof in with shinglo or paling . From the number of cottages and small dwellings proceeding with in all parts of our suburbs, wo imagine that the time is at hand when canvas and even turf tenements will, ere long, becosne a matter of more history, and the sooner the bette^ as they are neither conducive to cleanliness nor health ; canvas, especially, wo consider quite unstated to this climate." About half-past eleveho'clock on Monday night the constable on duty in Dee street found the door of Cobb and Company's Booking Office open, and on communicating the circumstance to Mr Brayton, the manager, it was ascertained that the olHce had been entered by some thieves, and a cash-box containing about £17 in notes, besides several crossed cheques and 1.0 U.s — amounting together to about £30 — carried off. The mail-bags j which were waiting to ba taken by the coach in the morning, were left untouched. On looking for the means by which the thieves had effected an entrance, it was discovered that tho key of $*% office door had been used. The Usy, it appears, was generally placed undernar>tlu<<'lr concealed by some wood behind the <*&*.}, ,oi- the convenience of the persons employed who catne early in the morning. Tho usual practice had been to leave neither anything valuable in the office overnight, a practice which — fortunately for the thieves — had been departed from on tho night- of the robbery. Wo believe that, as yet, no clue has been obtained to the thieves. We see by the Wellington Independent, that the widow and children of the late Cnptain Mercer proceeded to England by the Himalaya. The same journal also has the following:— "We are glad to learn that Lieut. Talbot is progressing favorably, notwithstanding the severe wounds he received at the attack on Rangiriri. '.Wo regret to hear that Privates Brown and Cnin, of the 65th regiment, have since died of their wounds. — It is reported that the wound received by Captain Gresson, in tho arm, is so severe, that amputation will be necessary. Colonel Wyatt of the 6och had a narrow escape from death ; a bullet pierced his haversack; smashed a bottle of rum, and was found in his clothes flattened." From the Dunedin Telegraph we hear of the starting of a new I»cal industry. It states — •' ihe manufacture of many descriptions of basketware has for months post been carried on in Dunedin, but the difficulty of pr curing a sufficient supply of osiers has hitherto bivn a serious drawback to the successful prosecution of this branch of industry. We learn that our soil and climate is particularly favorable to the growth of the osier, and that one of our enterprising provincialists has commenced to cultivate it extensively as a speculation. It is to be desired that the enterprise may meet with its reward." The 1 olio wing "Jottings in tho Cricket Field,'' from the Melbourne Herald, will !<e interest:^ to our cricketing readers: — " Tbise wlio were so fortunate as to be present <>n the Melbourne ground yesterday afternoon, enjoyed quite a treat m the way of cri.ket, as several of tho All Eajjland Eleven were practisirg there together. We had an opportunity" of noticing the play of Messrs Parr, Anderson, Csesar, Tinley, Caffyn f Jackson, and last- though not least-, those worldrenowned batsmen Hay ward and Carpenter. Wss overheard a remark, probably from some one not practically acquainted with the game, '• that it looked uncommonly easy to play cricket," and so it did when the bat or ball was in such hands. A more perfect and finished style of play than that of Hay ward or Carpenter, it would be impossible to imagine. Every ball appeared to be played exactly at the proper moment, and in the right way. We could have spent a -day in watching these two alone, not to mention the others. We could not help remarking a rather stout gentle* men, wo understood him to be a very popular member of the M.C.C., who had a peculiar, knack of bowling with his- wrong: leg first, and appeared to be smitten with an inordinate desire to bowl out one at least of these crack batsmen. We are not aware that he' succeeded ; but anyhow wecommend him for his praiseworthy, ambition ,; it is a step " in the right direction, .which our bowlers must endeavor to follow . George Parr, the Cap- ■ tain of the Eleven,, if not quite as active as usual, " handles his bat as in. days of old.. Anderson >is a powerful hitter and steady bat. Caffyn's pretty play is already familiar to all people ; he seemed quite'liimself, and just as likely as any one to get the longest score in the first match. We did not see enough of bur old 'acquaintances, Julius Csesar. and happy Tom Lockyer. The latter stood aloof from the play, and the former took it very easily. There was something dangerous in the look of Tinley's slows, and we warn our Victorian batsmen to beware of this man. Jackson and George Marshall, fellow townsmen in~ the old country, were having a little practice together. Jackson does not bow! so fast as usual, but there

may be-mi)re head-womin his bo#lu»g for all, that.- *We dfd not see naif enough practtc^goiiijc on amongst, those who lire likely" to" be among the " elect of yictoria." ~%he only chance of mkking^ a good fight is-" iy practising together. ] Tfie twenty-two when vhoMniriiould meet. together in tho field as often as possible tovknpW Uieir acos." - -*' <"'